Man who rammed into Michigan synagogue had just lost family in an
Israeli strike in Lebanon
[March 14, 2026]
By COREY WILLIAMS, ED WHITE and BASSEM MROUE
DEARBORN HEIGHTS, Mich. (AP) — A Lebanese-born man who had learned a
week earlier that four of his family members were killed in an Israeli
airstrike in his native country, waited in his car outside a synagogue
for two hours before ramming into the building where dozens of children
were inside.
Authorities said Friday that Ayman Mohammad Ghazali, 41, crashed his car
into Temple Israel outside Detroit on Thursday afternoon, then started
firing his gun through the windshield, exchanging fire with an armed
security guard.
Following the attack Thursday, a person familiar with the matter
speaking to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity said security
guards in the building killed the gunman. Later, authorities said guards
“neutralized” him. But Jennifer Runyan, the special agent in charge of
the FBI’s Detroit field office, said during a news conference Friday
that ultimately Ghazali fatally shot himself after he got stuck in his
vehicle and the engine caught fire. Officials later found large
quantities of commercial grade fireworks and several jugs of a liquid
believed to be gasoline.
One of the largest Reform synagogues in the US
The FBI, which is leading the investigation, described the attack on one
of the nation’s largest Reform synagogues, located in suburban West
Bloomfield Township north of Detroit, as an act of violence targeting
the Jewish community.
Runyan said that law enforcement didn’t have enough evidence to call the
attack an act of terror at this time, but said that investigations were
ongoing.
None of the 140 children, teachers and staff inside the synagogue were
injured, authorities said.
The agency has not provided an exact motive for the attack. “We’re just
30 hours into this, and we’re letting the facts and evidence lead,”
Runyan said.
Temple Israel had taken steps to prepare for an attack. Last summer, the
synagogue announced it was hiring a former local police lieutenant as
its full-time head of security to oversee its in-house, armed security
guards. Earlier this year, its clergy and staff underwent active shooter
prevention and preparedness training, according to a post on Temple
Israel's Facebook page.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and U.S. Sen. Elissa Slotkin during a
news conference Friday praised Temple Israel’s private security for
swiftly stopping the attack.
“If they had not all done their jobs almost perfectly, we would be
talking about an immense tragedy here with children gone,” Slotkin said.
Ghazali was a father, restaurant cook and US citizen
Ghazali lived in a single-story brick home in the Detroit suburb of
Dearborn Heights about 38 miles (61 kilometers) south of the synagogue.
On Friday, the front window was boarded, the front door was padlocked
and an Amazon package addressed to Ghazali sat on the porch.
“In the four years I’ve lived here, we never really got past
pleasantries,” said Chadi Zreik, who lives two houses down. “We all got
acquainted with him in the last 24 hours.”
Ghazali came to the U.S. in 2011 on an immediate relative visa as the
spouse of a U.S. citizen and was granted U.S. citizenship in 2016,
according to the Department of Homeland Security.
His family was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Lebanon, official
says
An Israeli airstrike on March 5 killed four people in the town of
Mashgharah, Lebanese officials reported. Israel has stepped up attacks
on the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon as the war
with Iran has spread violence across the Middle East.
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Police vehicles sit outside the Temple Israel synagogue Friday,
March 13, 2026, in West Bloomfield Township, Mich. (AP Photo/Paul
Sancya)
A local official in Mashgharah told the AP on Friday that the
airstrike killed Ghazali’s two brothers, a niece and a nephew at
their home just after sunset as they were having their fast-breaking
meal during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
The official, who requested anonymity because he could not publicly
discuss details of the airstrike, told the AP that Kassim and
Ibrahim Ghazali were killed, along with Ibrahim Ghazali’s children,
Ali and Fatima. Their mother was seriously wounded and remains in
the hospital, the official said.
A Michigan mosque held a service for his relatives
Dearborn Heights and its larger neighbor, Dearborn, have some of the
largest populations of Arab Americans in the U.S. Signs of the
culture are everywhere, from restaurants to mosques.
Dearborn Heights Mayor Mo Baydoun spoke to reporters Friday about
Ghazali losing family members overseas.
“That grief is real and it's heartbreaking,” Baydoun said, "But
there is never an excuse for violence, especially violence directed
at a sacred space.'
Osama Siblani, publisher of The Arab American News in Dearborn, said
it’s common to hold a memorial service in the U.S. for someone who
died overseas. “Sharing feelings always gives you comfort, whether
in bad times or good times. You don’t feel like you’re alone,”
Siblani said.
A flier last weekend promoted a service for Ghazali’s relatives at
the Islamic Institute of America in Dearborn Heights. The mosque’s
leader, Imam Hassan Qazwini, said Friday he had seen Ghazi only
once. He strongly condemned the synagogue attack, saying houses of
worship should be spared from political violence.
“Islam forbids holding innocent people accountable for acts done by
others,” Qazwini said in a text message to an AP reporter. “The
unjustified Israeli attack on civilians in Iran and Lebanon gives no
blank check to anyone attacking synagogues, civilians and peaceful
communities.”
Synagogues and other houses of worship on edge since Iran war
Synagogues around the world have been ramping up security since the
U.S. and Israel launched missile strikes against Iran on Feb. 28.
At Temple Israel, a security officer was hit by the vehicle and
knocked unconscious but did not suffer life-threatening injuries,
Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard said. And 63 law enforcement
officers were treated for smoke inhalation.
More than 600 law enforcement officers responded to the 911 calls on
Thursday.
Oakland County is Michigan’s second-largest county with roughly 1.3
million people. The majority of Detroit-area Jewish residents live
there. Temple Israel has 12,000 members, according to its website.
The attack was the second at a house of worship in Michigan within
the past year. Last September, a former Marine fatally shot four
people at a church north of Detroit and set it ablaze. The FBI later
said he was motivated by “anti-religious beliefs” against The Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
___
White reported from Detroit. AP journalists Alanna Durkin Richer in
Washington, Russ Bynum in Savannah, Georgia, Safiyah Riddle in
Montgomery, Alabama, and Hallie Golden in Seattle contributed.
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